House prices continued to fall last month, with the steepest decline being experienced in London and southern England.

The average property price in England and Wales fell for the tenth month in July, dropping a further 1.2 per cent to £168,500, an average last recorded in October 2006. According to the latest housing market survey from Hometrack, prices are now down 4.4 per cent on a year ago.

The housing data company suggests that prices have fallen by 1.3 per cent in the South West, South East and London in the past month. Prices in the South West are now 5.2 per cent lower than a year ago, while those in Greater London and the South East have dropped by 5.1 per cent and 4.6 per cent respectively.

In the North and North West they are holding steadier - just 0.8 per cent and 1 per cent lower in the past month, or 2.7 and 3.2 per cent over a year.

Properties are lingering on the market for an average of 11 weeks, up almost a week in the past month, and those owners who do manage to sell seem only to be doing so by accepting lower prices.

Rightmove, the property website that tracks asking prices, suggested last week that homeowners were demanding on average 2 per cent less than a year ago.

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